5/29/06 (Monday): Today did not begin propitiously. When I made the bed, I discovered that Wiley had gotten paint on my brand new duvet cover that I searched for weeks to find in the right color. I spent a couple of hours trying to get it out but was unsuccessful. I even drove up to the store to get a spot remover that said it removed latex paint, but that didn’t work either. I was not a happy camper. I know he didn’t do it on purpose—he’d worked so hard getting our picnic table painted, and he’d gotten it on his favorite black shorts and it rubbed off onto the duvet cover when he walked in the narrow space beside the bed. It took us all morning to clean the camper inside and out and do laundry, and we had wanted to spend our day off at a nearby park.

We finally took off after lunch, and things got a little better. We were trying to find the other campground owned by our campground's owners. We took a wrong turn, but it turned into an adventure when a wild turkey ran right in front of the truck. I almost hit it! We finally found the campground, and it was okay, but we’ve been spoiled by this place. Our sites are prettier, the office is more picturesque, the pool is bigger, and we’re right on the ocean. It’s going to be hard for us to find an assignment that’s as nice as this place. We’ve gotten spoiled!

After our visit to the RV park, we drove to Camden Hills State Park. It’s located on Mt. Battie (780’), which overlooks Camden Harbor. In 1897, a guy who lived in Camden built a carriage road to the top of the mountain. Later, he built a turreted hotel. Eventually, when carriages became obsolete, the road deteriorated until it was just a trail. In 1918, a fire burnt the whole top of the mountain, destroying the beauty of the region. In 1921, a stone tower was erected that still stands. A nearby plaque says that Edna St. Vincent Millay wrote her poem “Renascence” while enjoying the view from the summit of Mt. Battie. Many famous people, including Theodore Roosevelt have climbed Mt. Battie. The view over Camden Harbor is pretty spectacular.

After soaking up the view for a while, we hiked the trail to
Mt. Megunticook. There were a lot of wildflowers, including the biggest lady slippers I’ve ever seen! It was just gorgeous, with lots of big rocks, views out over the harbor, and a great mixture of evergreens, birches and hardwoods. I fear our flatlander legs are going to feel it tomorrow, though. Mt. Megunticook is 1385’.

We weren’t in the mood to come back and cook, so we stopped at the Taco Bell and enjoyed a
little fast food. I went up to the bath house to take a shower and bumped into Fran and Richard
on the way back. They’d been for a walk to the bluff. We wound up building a fire and sharing a drink. What a great day to end the day that didn’t start so well! Now we’re enjoying a show on HGTV called RV 2006 that’s showing all the new RV’s and RV toys. This is living!